16.6.09

SCOTS MIFFED

Nothing says 'summertime' like a venal struggle for power at the heart of a snooker association and it has fallen to our friends in Scotland to oblige this year.

An EGM has been called for July 5th in which members of Scottish Snooker Ltd, the governing body of amateur snooker in Scotland, will vote on whether to remove the entire board of directors, which is currently chaired by Stevie Baillie.

If you ever visit the forums of the Scottish Snooker website, you will see that all sides, from players to board members, are not averse to having a good old ruck in public.

They would all doubtless argue they are doing the best for snooker north of the border and I have no reason to question any of their intentions.

However, the country that gave us Stephen Hendry and John Higgins doesn't seem to be producing much in the way of new talent.

Anthony McGill is a teenager who has plenty of potential but the wave of players who came through in Hendry's wake appears to have turned into a slow trickle.

You'd hope that, whatever happens at the EGM, all involved will be prepared to put aside personal squabbles and get on with the job of providing a fertile breeding ground for fresh talent.If they don't, one of snooker's historic strongholds may become just that - a thing of history.

125 comments:

Anonymous
said...

i think that most uk countries have their fair share of up and coming youngsters but most of them realise that they have to be exceptional to make it a career in this day and age and so perhaps dont take the plunge when needed.

20 years or so ago there was much more prospect in snooker and more money too, but nowadays theres less tournaments and much less money unless youre at the very top....

just my thoughts on why there seems to be few youngsters coming through and having had hendry and higgins in the past would have no bearing on whether someone takes the plunge and tries to make a good fist of it as a career.

29 members of Scottish Snooker Ltd have called for an EGM to remove seven directors of the NGB, including the Chairman Stevie Baillie, and replace them with three new directors, Mark Boyle, Paul Marinello and Bobby Cruikshanks.

Only the recently co-opted directors, Crawford Mitchell and Frank Hamilton are excluded from the action.

This is a resounding declaration of “no confidence” in the board by approximately 40% of the voting members.

It would appear that long suffering players have had enough and are not prepared to wait until the AGM in October to instigate change.

Unresolved issues in areas of finance, dubious AGM voting procedures and tournament structure appear to be the catalysts for change, and the three EGM nominee directors have pledges of support from others inside and outside the NGB to bring total stability and harmony back into Scottish Snooker if the afore-mentioned directors are removed.

The EGM call follows on from the Audit Request submitted on the 25th April, which many feel will be ignored. So there is now a progressive demand to remove the Chairman and directors who have failed to produce transparency and answers to membership concerns.

Should the action be successful it would appear that a new administration will be able to draw on resources and massive support to produce an integrated Scottish Snooker tournament schedule in time for the new season, together with fiscal control that seems to have been non-existent in the last 12 months.

This action is being taken now because it is believed that stagnation has set in and there will be a drastic reduction in membership renewal unless there is immediate major personnel change in the administration of Scottish Snooker. Many players have already declared that they will not be playing “the NGB game” next season.

It is believed that Scottish Snooker would be better served if the seven directors stood down immediately, for the good of the game, on the basis of this latest demand.

I don't think Anthony McGill is the best prospect for Scotland, i seen him a few months back in PIOS and thought he was a much better player last year at the European Championships. I think a couple of very bad decisions from him this year have cost him the main tour place.

To say that 29 members of Scottish Snooker have demanded the removal of 7 directors, is totaly wrong. The members were issued and told to sign a statement calling for the accounts to be audited. at no point did it mention removing the directors from Scottish Snooker. I know this because i was one of the members who singed it.

To say that 29 members of Scottish Snooker have demanded the removal of 7 directors, is totaly wrong. The members were issued and told to sign a statement calling for the accounts to be audited. at no point did it mention removing the directors from Scottish Snooker. I know this because i was one of the members who singed it.

This notice has been issued by the 29 signatories, who asserted their rights in the original EGM request, and confirmed they would do so in the event of default by the directors of Scottish Snooker Ltd:-

I've notice on the Premier website that Alan Craig seems to have a lot to say on the matter. I remember he was surrounded by some very controvertial issues when he was involved in the running of the game in Scotland a few years back.

I've noticed on the Scottish snooker website that Stevie Baillie & Co seems to have very little to say on matters. Theyve been surrounded by some very controvertial issues in the running of the game in Scotland in the past few years.

As you say "Accounts not adequate, draws, MONEY STOLEN etc," all sounds very familiar when it comes to the name Alan Craig.

Alan, you might think your a smart guy, but maybe you should start by brushing up on your communication skills i.e. name calling, question and answer sessions with yourself etc. Maybe then you can start criticising peoples' spelling mistakes!Here's a word to start you off on your question and answer session on here "CONMAN"

Thanks pro. I would take up your offer to contact Alan direct, but that is why the game in scotland is in such a mess because these people are not open to other peoples views or oppinions only their own. as for who i am, me & Allan go way back... oh and I have looked on that website again and their are PLENTY of alias so I will remain anonymous who ever you are(THE PRO)p.s. theres a few mistakes(spelling AND grammar) in here for Allan to go threw!!!cos i no he likes them!!!!!

The ridicule and abuse i've taken on here is nothing compared to the stuff these guys have dished out on the premier website over the past year or so under alias names, just take a look back and see for yourself. They don't like the taste of their own medicine.Re the spelling & grammar mistakes- point taken!

Is Alan Craig the guy who took over £300 of members money from a club, is minuted in SSL as doing so, wrote a cheque to cover the money which he then cancelled and was shown on the accounts of SSL as a bad debtor for several years?

Mr Craig does seem to have a chequered past when it come to his past with SSL with moneys going missing etc, does the game really want him involved? It also seems that most of this other side who want to controll the game have had fair disciplinaries against them or parents who have disagreed with the board with issues with seeding for their own childrens tournaments when the top players kept getting drawn against each other in the early rounds. Also Tam McGill (Anthonys dad) has a personal grievance with the chairman with respect of a newspaper stating that the chairmans daughter was the youngest Scottish player to represent her country in an international event, this information was sourced by the reporter directly from Janie Watkins of Global Snooker and from what i can make out had nothing to do with Mr Ballie, so there seems to be other motives here for the removal of the current board, maybe the members of this other partys history should be examined a bit more closely.

There has been talk on the other website of how SSL youth numbers have fallen away, ask yourself this, do these young players bother with the politics of the game? Are they interested in who they play or where they play? My answer would be NO. Its a shame that these youngsters are not getting the chance to play for their country because dad says no because he "doesnt like the board". I seem to remember that at last years 'Auld Enemy' clash, it was widley known that 1 of the younger players (a very good player) was in tears in his bedroom because his dad said he couldnt go to Leeds to play because he didnt like the board and he wasnt supporting anything the board did. HOW WRONG IS THIS!!!?? Children have no perception of the politics and when you read some of the posts which they put up on other websites, you know for a fact by the punctuation and grammar, that they posts have in fact been written by their parents.Its no wonder that Scotland isnt producing future superstars with the current number 'allowed' to play by their parents in SSL events. This other party should be ashamed of themselves preventing their children from playing for their country, can there be any higher accolade?

""Is Alan Craig the guy who took over £300 of members money from a club, is minuted in SSL as doing so, wrote a cheque to cover the money which he then cancelled and was shown on the accounts of SSL as a bad debtor for several years?

How can this guy show his face?""

LOL Unbelievable....no doubt you have a copy of the minute to which you refer?

The thing that i dont understand is where has all the SSL money gone to, i hear that they currently have only £300 in the bank, and they never even paid out any prizemoney last season.

Its time for change, the board must go to move the game in Scotland forward!!!

By Anonymous TheMax, At 8:43 PM

By doing a little digging on the SSL website,these are the figures that have been posted by the board for some of the expenditure for last season:£3,400 (estimate) was paid out in prize money£4,400 est paid out in player funding£1,300 est paid out in trophiesand around £600 to take the juniors to Sheffield for the Worlds in April.

Anonymus, i too have been diggihg a little on the SSL website and i cant find the £600 to take the juniors to Sheffield mentioned anywhere on the site.

It does mention that the kids did go to the crucible then they had a weekend of hard bagpacking to pay for there venture. so i take it with this information that you have to hand (£600) that you must be a SSL board member.

It doesnt matter a jot to me whether you are or not, and i dont really care about how much spin you put on proceedings all i do care is that the game is run properley and people tell the truth.

It also states on a post on your site that no prizemoney was to be paid out so where do you get the £3400 paid out on prizemoney.

Its not 'my' website and I am NOT a board member, in fact I'm not even a member of SSL, just someone intrested in facts. If I was a board member, I certainly wouldn't be on here as anon Mr Pro, are you a board member on SSL, or a head honcho for the SYSA that I read so much about, I have told you the truth in my status, how about you? Its sad to see so much anamosity up there in Scotland when such a country has produced some of the games finest, are you one of them Mr Pro?

"LOL unbelievable... No doubt you have a copy of the minute to which you refer?"Oh c'mon now Mr Craig you're not going to try and deny this, are you?There are enough well respected people in the game up here (on both sides) that i know wouldn't even enter the same building let alone the same room as you regarding this. They all can't be wrong surely?

I see a quote from the Premier website from Stevie Polley regarding people who lose their stance in debates etc revert to personal attacks on people. What a laugh!!!This is from the same people who described the Chairman of Scottish Snooker as a cancerous growth, and the rest of the board as parasites!!!

Well Mr Pro, there was over £1200 prize money paid out alone in the Edinburgh and Glasgow opens held last season, were you not playing in those events? Search on SSL's website and look under Scottish Open Tournaments for details, I'll leave the rest of the prize monies paid out for you to peruse yourself.

I havent indicated that I have any issue with anyone and am not venting any fury, where do you get that from? I am only interested in facts and as an outsider from any organisation and a casual player of the game, I am only interested in whats best for the sport. I think though with the statement from yourself stating "If i were one of the parasites or even Mr Craig to which you have been ridiculing, accusing i would be instructing others to take action on yourself." you might be putting yourself in a situation calling people parasites.

As far as my identity is concerned, the fact i have chosen to be Anon is no concern of yours and as the website offers the option of being anon, then there would be legal ramifications should any of my details being made public unless I break the rules within the website which then would nullify my right to be anon.Apology accepted for SYSA thing although not necessary as i realised that it was a misread on your behalf. Its all about hitting a ball on the table, not politics. :)

Is Alan Craig the guy who took over £300 of members money from a club, is minuted in SSL as doing so, wrote a cheque to cover the money which he then cancelled and was shown on the accounts of SSL as a bad debtor for several years?

As you say in your post that you have the right to remain anonymus as you have never broken any rules. The person who scribed the above post accusing your friend Mr Craig to misapropriating funds has broken the rules, he has accused an individual of stealing money.

If i were Mr Craig i would take this spiteful person to task with the relevent authorities.

Hell mend them, YOU REEP WHAT YOU SOW!

PS< you still havent clarified my initial question that i posed to you in an earlier post regarding the £600?

The thing that i dont understand is where has all the SSL money gone to, i hear that they currently have only £300 in the bank, and they never even paid out any prizemoney last season.

Its time for change, the board must go to move the game in Scotland forward!!!

By Anonymous TheMax, At 8:43 PM

By doing a little digging on the SSL website,these are the figures that have been posted by the board for some of the expenditure for last season:£3,400 (estimate) was paid out in prize money£4,400 est paid out in player funding£1,300 est paid out in trophiesand around £600 to take the juniors to Sheffield for the Worlds in April.

Maybe people should look first before shouting??

**I believe the turnover was just under £30K so where's the rest?

All the board have to do is answer the questions asked of them. They have not done so, ask yourself why?

I see it has all went quiet in here on the Scottish Stuff.Has the postings been suspended.Has anyone ever asked James McBain ex Pro and Former Scottish No.1 or Martin Dzielwialtowski ex Pro what their thoughts are on Mr Alan Craig.He still owes both of them £sss... from when he was at the helm of SB&SA.Non believers - please check with both these lads.Martin now works for a living and James is back on the Scottish Amateur circuit.Oh and what about tournaments with 100+ entries at £10 each and less than £200 paid out in Prizes and trophies.Is there records of what the change was used for?Alan Craig should be able to help you there - he was running the show single handedly then.Although he may be too busy to answer any of your questions on here as he is currently spending his days answering his OWN question on other forums!

Oh and what about tournaments with 100+ entries at £10 each and less than £200 paid out in Prizes and trophies.

Well whoever u r, its £200 more than u paid out in this years events.

Well done alan i hope u r sucessful on gettin this board out, they r a nightmare, i was told that at 1 of the open events that John higgins won- a stagering £1000 WAS PAYED OUT for administrasion money. John an Markus each got about £600 each the administrator or whoever u wani call them got more than the winners.

This mob have 2 go nobody likes them and nobody wants them, infact if it was up 2 me i would report them 4 witholding the companies dets fae the acounts, its criminal.

Firstly, in order to hold a LEGITIMATE EGM, you must ask ALL members if they want to hold an EGM, not just a selected few who hold grudges against the NGB.(Iknow this is the case because i'm a member and to date have had no PROPER mention of an EGM).

also, there are proper procedures through Company's House that must be done in order to hold an EGM.(Again, Company's House has had no notification of any such EGM).

So in answer to your question Mr Maximus, NO i will not be attending your little (not an EGM) get together.

Is this really what the "power" struggle has come down to?The only bit missing from most of the posts above is "Nah, nah nah na na Nah!What about the future of the game folks - HELLO!There is a game that most of us love somewhere in the middle of all this guff.C'mon stop all the posturing and think about the game in the middle of all this dross.Please!

I personally have no issues with the individuals who are part of Scotland's NGB, however here are some facts ;

- the number of players has fallen considerably, especially in last 12months. This was highlighted when the winner (not to take any shine of Mark's victory) of the Scottish National event only had to win 4 or 5 matches

- there was no prize money paid out last year despite hundreds/thousands of pounds taken in fees.

- the EUROS were held 2 years agothe funds were not there in the first place to pay for the cost of the event - this seems to have been a a poor business decision.

- the board continue to ignore their responsibilities such as issuing an up-to-date members list when requested in writing (more than once)

As one of the supporters of the Group who are attempting to restore some lost pride to the game of snooker in Scotland, the above points alone should be enough for the board to move along and admit that whilst they have tried their best, it is time for change. As a former player, I hope that this will happen after Sunday's EGM.

All the facts & figures will be revealed at the EGM, they will blow your socks off- the amount of money that has been mismanaged is staggering to say the least.

Once the new board are in place the last 6 years accounts will be audited to see the full extent of the financial shambles. It may coat a few bob to get them all audited but it must be done and will be worthwhile.

Once this current board are removed and all the audits are complete then the game in Scotland will move on to bigger and better things.

Is this really what the "power" struggle has come down to? The only bit missing from most of the posts above is "Nah, nah nah na na Nah! What about the future of the game folks - HELLO! There is a game that most of us love somewhere in the middle of all this guff. C'mon stop all the posturing and think about the game in the middle of all this dross. Please

I am a member of Scottish Snooker and to date have not been informed of any EGM going on within Scottish Snooker?

What is going on?

Has the Board called the EGM?What is the Agenda for the EGM?Who has called the EGM?What's up for debate?Has every member been informed? (not me yet!)Am I the only one not to be informed?Hello.................?Help..............Information os King!

Help is at hand, if you log onto the snooker forum website, premier snooker website or even post your contact details on this blog i will make sure that you receive all the relevant information regarding the EGM. i received them by email..

Ive been told that the vast majority of members have been informed but due to the board not releasing the membership list which makes there job harder to let all the members know of the EGM.

If you have any issues regarding the EGM you can call Stevie Baillie whos contact details can be found on www.scottishsnooker.co.uk

http://www.scottishsnooker.co.uk/forums/showthread.php?t=1120Above is a thread posted on the SSL site by the chairman of SSL on the 8-6-2009.And this is what he say's today.

Can you include Joanne (Baillie) and myself for Sunday.I think most of the players attending the Home International meeting will be looking to take part also.Might be a good turnout.See you Sunday. __________________For The Good of The Game

It looks like the current board are not going to attend the EGM as they are holding a Home International Team meeting on the same day!!!!? To me and any other neutral following these events,it shouts out loud and clear that the current board are not willing to resolve the issue's within its own membership. Holding another legitimate meeting on the same day and bringing all players who are going to compete in the H.I.to it ,some who have signed the EGM request,is surely a strategy to try and deplete and undermine the EGM request. This tactic smacks of nothing but poor judgement on SSL's behalf.To Anonymous who posted at 3.44 I believe the Board of SSL did not comply with 2 requests for the membership list if this is so you can only blame your board I think if you want information on the lack of information that you allude to you should get in touch with SSL or ask one of the signatories.P.S. I wonder why you are asking these 8 questions on this forum instead of on the SSL WEBSITE WHERE INFORMATION IS KING!!

I wonder once the members here about this detail whether it will impact the number of members this year.

At the moment SSL are struggling to pull together a team to play in Home Internationals, represent Scotland abroad etc.

I remember when I used to play in the SSL events. One year I was one place outside of the Home International selection and I think I finished ninth and never got in the team because the top 8 players wanted to play for the team. These days you can finish 25th and sill get selected.What does that tell you ?

There was no mention of any debts in the official SSL accounts that were issued at the AGM, if they were then the company would have technically been insolvent and the board would have been removed immediatley.

This is shocking that these accounts did not show the outstanding debts, mismanagement from a mismanaged shambolic board.

I wonder how companies house would react to the accounts not being accurate.

PS, and theres no chance of SSL receiving any sort of funding from Sport Scotland!

i see on the premier website, past posts are being dragged up(LOL) oh and chris martin case dragged up again. if memory serves right he was allowed to finish his season with SSL, so no wrong doing done by the board ,they stuck to what was agreed! see the posts on here must be being moderated now too eh?

can i ask a question? if all these people are always complaining about scottish snooker, why do you let your children play in the events then? am asking this because apparently one parent in particular, his own child was through in glasgow at the HI meeting, while his dad was attending another meeting to try and oust the current board of ssl.find it strange thats all...

Just because the parents of the 'children' believe that the way that Scottish Snooker is run by our NGB is shambolic, it does not mean that they will stop them from doing what they want to do which is play snooker.

If they want their kids to improve, they have to let them play in competitions such as the Home Internationals.

If you haven't already noticed, where SSL struggle to get participation is the adults because a lot of them (like myself) know that they are not going to make it in the game. As a result, we have a choice where the decision will not impact our careers.

The NGB offer, in my opinion and many others, a pathetic product that I can choose to take or leave. I choose to leave it because I can. If the NGB was run properly and I had trust in where my money was going and trust that the board were developing the game in Scotland with my money then I would play in the events.

Simple really !! If I was a parent of a promising player I would do the same and let them play as well.

part of a post on SSL website tonight"but all board members had condoned the actions and therefore are all responsible for the current situation, despite personal opinion."are you talking about holding the Euros in Glasgow John?If memory serves correct, were you not a member of the board that agreed to HOLD the Euros in Glasgow, when some of the current board were not even on it then, therefore did not take part in that decision?

"Anonymous said... Just because the parents of the 'children' believe that the way that Scottish Snooker is run by our NGB is shambolic, it does not mean that they will stop them from doing what they want to do which is play snooker."

Oh right, is that what happened at last years HI's then, and the Auld Enemy Clash in Leeds? The parents that were in dispute with SSL did NOT hold their children back from playing for their country? You're having a laugh!!!

Any parent who had their own childrens playing career at heart should not stop their kids playing snooker internationally just because THEY don't like the person/people running the ngb. I can assure you that DID happen last year at the HI's and the friendly against England. That is a shame when the kids are brought into the "politics" of the game!

As a parent of one of these kids that did not go to Leeds, all I can say to that is we as parents have not got access to cash like the ssl chairman has. It would be easy to send our kids all over the world if we like the ssl chairman could just put all the costs under our miscellaneous section of the books.